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Sun, 27 Apr 2014 15:59:12 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.5Solving the Riddle of Birth and Deathhttp://www.spiritualquest.co.in/science/birth-death/solving-riddle-birth-death-5/
http://www.spiritualquest.co.in/science/birth-death/solving-riddle-birth-death-5/#respondThu, 07 Apr 2011 02:00:14 +0000http://www.spiritualquest.co.in/?p=103The unique contribution of Srila Prabhupada to humanity is that he presented the conclusion of all scriptures to all classes of people without discrimination. People from various cultural backgrounds also could appreciate his teachings and adopt Krishna bhakti as way of life. The greatest achievement of Srila Prabhupada was that he was able to convince the ‘hippies'(people who lost all hopes in life) to take to Krishna consciousness and made them ‘happies’. When they started following Srila Prabhupada, the magazine ‘New York Times’ wrote, “Swamiji convinces the world’s most toughest audience that he knows the way to God”. The hippies were sons/daughters of millionaires but were living in a miserable condition because they were not knowing the aim of life. This is clear proof that real happiness is independent of material situation and can be obtained only by God concisousness.

The sruti mantras (Svetasvatara Upanishad 6.20) give a nice analogy about the importance of Krishna consciousness to attain eternal happiness.

“Only when men shall roll up the entire sky like rolling a leather, they can attain the end of all miseries (release from birth and death) without realizing the Effulgent Great God.”

Just as it is impossible to roll the entire sky like leather, it is impossible to solve the problem of birth and death without surrendering to the Supreme Lord. There is nice story to illustrate this point.

Once there lived a rich man in a village with his three sons. He was the disciple of a great sage who trained him well in the devotional service of the Lord. He was sincerely performing devotional service and very much tried to teach his sons about the importance of devotional service. But they did not show much interest. They thought it is only for very old people who are not successful in material life. The rich man felt very bad about this and told the Sage. The Sage replied,”Do not worry. I will take care of your sons. Please continue your devotional service sincerely as long as you’re alive. When you’re writing your final Will you write the way I instruct you” and the sage instructed him accordingly. After sometime, the rich man passed away in complete spiritual consciousness and before dying he wrote the Will as per the Sage’s instruction. After he died, his sons took the will and read them in front of the judge. The Will said that all the land, jewellery and cash has to be shared equally by all the three sons. And the rich man had 19 world class horses, which were very expensive, each worth lacs of gold coins. The Will said that the horses should be shared among the three sons in the following way.

The first son should get half the number of the total horses. The second son should get one fourth the number of the total horses and the third son should get one fifth number of the total horses. The division should be done without cutting any of horses. If the sons are not able to do the division, then all the 19 horses should be surrendered to the King.

The three sons were shocked to hear this and started raking their brains to divide the horses. But they could never find a way of doing it. They became very much worried as they have to surrender the horses to the King. At that time, a man from the next village came riding on a horse and asked these sons, “Why are you looking so sad?”. The three sons explained the reason and requested the stranger to suggest a way to divide the horses. He asked them to line up all the 19 horses and he parked his horse along with them thereby making the total number of horses to 20. He asked the first son to take half of it (10 horses). He asked the second son to take one fourth of the total number (5) and he asked the last son to take one fifth of the total number(4). So all the 19 horses (10+5+4) were shared as per the will. After everybody took their share, the stranger’s horse alone was standing. He took the horse and was about to leave. All the three sons fell at his feet and thanked him sincerely. The stranger revealed his identity and he was none other than the Sage. He said, “I’m the spiritual master of your father. He was worried that you people are not taking to devotional service. So I arranged this riddle to help you. Just as the above problem could not be solved without bringing in the 20th horse, the fundamental problem of material existence namely the problem of repeated birth and death cannot be solved without bringing in the Supreme Lord who is beyond this material world. Just as I added the 20th horse to solve the problem of dividing the 19 horses, please add the chanting of Lord’s names and glories into your lives. This simple process will help you attain eternal life of knowledge and bliss.” The sons of the rich man then came to their senses and started performing devotional service very seriously.

The above story illustrates the desperate need of devotional service in human form of life. This point is clearly stated in Bhagavata purana (12.4.40) that there is no other boat than chanting the glories of the Supreme Being to cross over the ocean of birth and death.

“For a person who is suffering in the fire of countless miseries and who desires to cross the insurmountable ocean of material existence, there is no suitable boat except that of cultivating devotion to the transcendental taste for the narrations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s pastimes.”

The words ‘na anyah plavo’ indicates that by no amount of material advancement once can cross birth and death. One should surrender to the Supreme Lord in devotional service and bring Him into our lives.

I pray at the lotus feet of Guru Maharaj, Srila Prabhupada and the devotees to get a little taste for devotional service in this life time.

Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada and Gurudeva,
Narahari Krishna Dasa
Chennai.

It has been our greatest good fortune that our beloved spiritual master H.H. Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaja was here in Abudhabi from 29th of November to 3rd December, immersing all of us in transcendental bliss with his nectarean instructions. We have very limited capacity to even collect the pearls of wisdom that were flowing from his lotus mouth. Whatever we could assimilate, according to our limited capacity, we would like to share with all the members of this wonderful Granthraj forum. In the Mangala aarati program on 30th November, Maharaja asked us to recite the ten offences against the Holy name. As soon as the first offence was recited, Maharaja gave a wonderful insight into it and gave a lot of practical instructons on the ways to avoid this great offence.

THE FIRST OFFENSE:To blasphame the devotees who have dedicated their lives for propagating the holy name of the Lord.

Maharaja categorically stated that devotees do not criticize anybody. By doing this, we save half our life. When two people meet, we always have the tendency to talk about and criticize the third one and this has to be avoided. He quoted the following verse from Mahabharat and everyone of us should remember this always in order to get out of the pitfall of criticizing others.

1. dharmam bhajasva satatam: One should always focus and speak about dharma. Here the verb ‘bhajasva‘ indicates an order and it is not a request. Dharma refers to the religion that links us to the Supreme Personality Of Godhead. We are all eternal servants of the Lord and this dharma is our constitutional position. Every part has to serve the whole. The soul, which is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, can never survive on its own. That is why the Supersoul never leaves the individual soul. If every soul is part and parcel of Krishna, we have no right to criticize anyone. This is the practical application of the knowledge. Unless the knowledge is realized and applied, it becomes mere speculation. Here it is mentioned ‘satatam’, which means that the religious principles have to be practised all the time. A grain of practise is more valuable than tons of knowledge. By not criticizing anybody, we are observing the austerity of speech. Speaking is a very easy activity and that is why we criticize. Our body is so formed, that we can see only other’s face and we cannot see our own face. We are not aware of our own defects and we talk about others. By always performing the religious principles, we avoid this pitfall.

2. tyaja loka dharmaan: we should abandon the general meaning of religion. People are running after so many demigods, other living entities and so many rituals without actual knowledge of real religion which is to glorify the supersoul. Here again the verb ‘tyaja‘ indicates an order to abandon and is not a request. Time is running out and we should not be running after false things. We either use the time or lose it.

3. sevasva sadhu purushaan: All through our life, we are serving our mind, greed, envy, our wife, children-everything else other than Krishna. We should serve the sadhus who are simple people who have taken shelter of Krishna. A sadhu is a renounced person, but we should be clear that renunciation is not only the showy fervor, but the actual realization must be there that ‘everything here is temporary‘. We should always seek the association of the sadhus. There are three things.

We should always seek prasanga. In Srimad Bhagavatam 1.19.16, King Parikshit prefers this prasanga when he prays ‘ratih prasangas ca tad-aashrayeshu‘. Krishna consciousness flows from one living entity to another and this is the value of prasanga. By this prasanga, we save ourselves from the pitfall of criticism. Any talk, other than about Krishna, affects our blood ciriculation and hampers our devotional service. If our goal is constant remembrance of Krishna, then our tongue is automatically controlled. The more we concentrate on the pages of Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad gita, the less we talk about others. In prasanga we relish His association and this brings us satisfaction. Thus our health definitely depends upon 100 percent Krishna consciousness.

“Thus the wise living entity’s pure consciousness becomes covered by his eternal enemy in the form of lust, which is never satisfied and which burns like fire.”

Devotional life means all transcendental and hence all the material desires have to be given up.

5. anyasya dosha guna cintanam aashu muktvaa: We should not think about other’s bad and good qualities. We should concentrate on our own bad qualities and try to improve our qualities and behaviour. Our minds are always wandering thinking about so many things. We have already wandered through 84 lacs of species completing at least one round, but even now our mind wanders. We should stop this wandering of the mind.

6. seva katha rasam aho nitaraam pibatvam: we should drink regularly the nectarean juice of Krishna’s topics. So many times we say that Bhagavad gita is non- different from the Lord, but again we do not focus on Bhagavad gita, and we talk so many other things. We have to change our nature and habituate ourselves to studying the scriptures. ‘pibatvam‘ means ‘you drink‘ which means that we should seclude ourselves for one or two hours and read and understand the scriptures.

In conclusion, for our own health we should stop criticizing.

Second offense: To consider the names of demigods like Lord Shiva or Lord Brahma to be equal to, or independent of the name of Lord Vishnu.

Maharaja gave a very broad perspective of this particular offence when he said that we respect everybody, but our whole concentration is on the Supreme Personality Of Godhead. Maharaja quoted the following verse from Srimad Bhagavatam 5.18.32,

“My dear Lord, You manifest Your different energies in countless forms: as living entities born from wombs, from eggs and from perspiration; as plants and trees that grow out of earth; as all living entities, both moving and standing, including the demigods, the learned sages and the pitas; as outer space, as the higher planetary system containing the heavenly planets, and as the planet earth with its hills, rivers, seas, oceans and islands. Indeed, all the stars and planets are simply manifestations of Your different energies, but originally You are one without a second. Therefore there is nothing beyond You. This entire cosmic manifestation is therefore not false but is simply a temporary manifestation of Your inconceivable energy.”

The realization from this knowledge is that if everything is His energy, then we should not get stuck with His energies, but go to the energetic. Energy is always completely under the control of the energetic. All His energies are serving Him according to His order. Service means movement. There should always be movement, right from when we get up at 4.00 am As soon as movement is stopped, difficulty starts. Srimad Bhagavatam advises us that the best way to counteract the miseries arising out of body is yogic exercises (aatmajam yoga viryena 7.15.24) and exercise means movement. So any society which has ‘movement’, it progresses. Hence it is our duty to increase this Krishna conscious ‘movement’.

Third offense: To disobey the orders of the spiritual master.

Disciple always means discipline. We have to become seriously disciplined in our lives. We should always be ready to learn. Our brain is like a sponge and because of the presence of the transcendental soul and Supersoul, we can learn so much. Scientists have found out that in the whole of our lifetime, we utilize only 10% of our brain capacity and the balance 90% we surrender at the time of death. The sponge-like brain has to be refreshed always with the learning of Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita. As soon as we stop learning or speaking about Krishna, we glide down to sense gratification and everything collapses.Voluntary control will help us to survive very happily in this world and this is the Vedic culture. The less the material touch, the better it is. Nowadays advancement means stopping movement. Anything which is detrimental to seva-katha-rasam (nectarean topics and service of Krishna), must be avoided. Austere life is always full of movement.

Fourth offense: To blaspheme the Vedic literature or literatures in pursuance of the Vedic version.

If we do not understand the Vedic literature, then we start blaspheming. We should not lose faith in the scriptures. The transcendental topics are beyond our power of conception and we have to take the shelter of the scriptures. As Prajapati Daksha prays to the Supreme Lord in Srimad Bhagavatam 6.4.29,

“Anything expressed by material vibrations, anything ascertained by material intelligence and anything experienced by the material senses or concocted within the material mind is but an effect of the modes of material nature and therefore has nothing to do with the real nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Lord is beyond the creation of this material world, for He is the source of the material qualities and creation. As the cause of all causes, He exists before the creation and after the creation. I wish to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.”

Our duty is to continue to chant the Holy names, and in due course of time, the jiva gets the energy from Him and whatever he speaks becomes authority.

Fifth offense: To consider the glories of chanting Hare Krishna to be imagination.

We are all concocting and we have to stop this mental concoction. In family also, transcendence is very important. With all the transcendence also, we have so many difficulties. One is considered to be a failure in his life as long as he makes no inquiry about his real identity. Engrossment in sense gratification entails transmigration from one body to another and the engrossment has its source in mental concoction. Hence this mental concoction has to be avoided.

Sixth offense: To give some mundane interpretation on the holy name of the Lord.

We cannot interpret the meaning and the effect of the holy name of the Lord. Krishna has to be just experienced. It is said:

“No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality and pastimes of Sri Krishna through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him.”

“Men in this world desire success in fruitive activities, and therefore they worship the demigods. Quickly, of course, men get results from fruitive work in this world.”

To avoid this, we must always visualize the last day of our life. At the last moment, all the possessions become useless. We should be attached only to the minimum extent and we must be detached from the maximum extent. We are worried about our own journey and only remembrance of Krishna will help. The visualization of the last day, makes us completely straight-forward and saves ourselves from criticism and so many other material things.

Ninth offense: To instruct a faithless person about the glories of the holy name.

Complete faith in the Supreme gives us the psychological shelter. The child becomes peaceful, as soon as it has full faith in the parents. Unmanifested faith doesn’t work. In our Vedic culture, we do not lack anything. We should first improve ourselves as soon as possible by utilizing the gift of Srila Prabhupada in the form of so much paraphernalia and thus invoke faith in others also.

Tenth offense: To not have complete faith in the chanting of the holy names and to maintain some material attachments even after understanding so many instructions on this matter.

Whenever we are lethargic or fed up with chanting or reading, we should always visualize our last moment of life, and any one can have the last moment at any time. We may not have the opportunity to come together and listen to all the valuable things. Hence we should make the best use of the available opportunity.

We all pray at the lotus feet of our spiritual master and seek his blessings that we may become successful in our sincere endeavors to avoid the above offences by following the practical instructions Maharaja has given us. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!

Many of us have heard the wonderful explanations and realizations given by our beloved Guru Maharaja on the song ‘Jaya Raadha Maadhava’. I was fortunate to hear one of them and I have tried my best to transcribe the same for all our pleasure. I can never convey the mood of Maharaja through my writing which is full of inebrities and I very much apologise for the same.

The kirtans we sing must not be converted into rituals. The importance of feelings when we sing the kirtans is well understood if we understand one supreme truth. Every one of us without exception has to face Yamaraja as our lives are full of sins. Because we have chanted the holy names a bit here and there, we hope that like Ajamila, Vishnu dutas will arrive. We have seen so many people passing away. Some people pass away very calmly and comfortably. They don’t feel anything. It is just a gradual change. Some people have to struggle. The end must be very comfortable. This is our endeavour and where there are names of Krishna being non-different from Krishna Himself, they should spread the peaceful attitude in the whole of life. Passion should be decreased completely to the minimum except that we are showing passionate mood in the service of Krishna. In service we have to be active. As soon as we chant the Mahamantra or a few lines of the kirtana, all peace is pervaded. The names of the Lord being completely transcendental, they do not have any material inebrities in them. The three modes of material nature are completely absent. We are following this culture for the past 25 or 30 years and now is the time our devotional service should mature. Maturity must be exhibited and by understanding these things we can very well exhibit maturity. Even without understanding, the kirtan gives us peace.

We sing the kirtana, ‘jaya radha maadhava..’ We are very clear in mind that the glorification is the monopoly of the Supreme Absolute Truth. We can never have glorification. We are completely consumed and contaminated by the three modes. Somehow or the other, the major part of the day we should try to come out of the modes and the only way is to glorify the Lord through these kirtans.

We sing ‘jaya yashoda nandana..’ and the literal meaning of ‘Yasoda’ is one who gives us fame. ‘Yash’ means ‘fame’ and this one of the opulences of the Supreme Lord and this opulence we can never have unless we have unflinching faith in the process and thereby in Krishna. We must cultivate unmoving faith. Our constitutional position being parts and parcels of Krishna, there is no other way but to serve the Absolute Truth. We may have any one of the relationships with the Lord out of the five relationships. Shantha, daasya sakhya, vaatsalya and madhurya. All these relationships can very well be realized just by being peaceful. That is the first relationship.

As soon as we see His energies, unknowingly we become peaceful. Suppose we see the mass of water, in beaches, we feel the peace. There is no reason why we should go there but everybody loves to go there. Somehow or the other we are attracted because the mass of water is His energy and not only that, when we deeply think about it, the sea appears calm and this increases our calm attitude. As soon as this calmness is introduced in our lives, nothing disturbs us, and any situation we face, we are cool and there are no ripples in our lives. The unnecessary ripples are caused by the lower modes. There are millions of combinations of the three modes and almost non-stop they trouble us. And every time we have to keep them quiet. This is a continuous endeavour. Srimad Bhagavatham says, ‘grnatas ca sva-ceshtitam’. We accept by our own endeavour.

‘Yashoda’ gives us unparalleled fame and every living entity is struggling for that. I want to be famous; you want to be famous but we do not know that this opulence is given by Mother Yasoda. And why is this opulence given by her? Because she is the mother of Krishna. And we very well know from our experience that a cow can only produce a calf. Hog will produce hog. Equal species can have the same type of children of the same species. Yasoda must be belonging to Krishna’s species. Unless she is Krishna’s species, He will not accept her as His mother. And Krishna’s species means sat, cit and anand. Eternity is there. Complete knowledge is there and because eternity and knowledge are there, the third thing is bound to be there and it is bliss.

There is an ocean of difference between happiness and bliss. All the living entities who are completely and constantly in touch with Krishna, through His names, through Srila Prabhupada’s literatures and through so much other spiritual infrastructure, their ‘yash’ or fame increases. We may have riches but riches and opulence are completely different. We may own so many material things, but opulence means that with all these facilities, we are unflinchingly attached to the devotional service of Krishna. This devotional service is non different from Krishna. In the spiritual world, the process and the goal are the same. We are discussing about Him and he is very well present here and that is why we are keeping quiet and listening. Real opulence means we are saturated with Krishna and this comes by undeviated attention (ananya cetaah satatam) and this gives us the opulence of fame. But the conditions required are very serious. In Srimad Bhagavad gita 8.14, the Lord says,

“For one who always remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to obtain, O son of Paartha, because of his constant engagement in devotional service.”

Each word in the verse being Krishna Himself are very very potent. Our mind has two qualities. Flickering (cancalam) and unsteady (asthiram).We have to make it steady. Enough of monkey behaviour we had. Now is the time to make it steady. The mind must cooperate with us. As soon as the mind cooperates with us, and we have unflinching faith in devotional service, then that will force us to be completely steady and peaceful. We are not disturbed by the ups and downs of life. Always there will be some waves of the modes of material nature, but people who are unflinchingly attached to devotional service are not affected, and this is the opulence.

The day of spiritual initiation is a very important day in all our lives. Initiation is actually a second birth for the human beings. In this second birth, the spiritual master is our father and the scriptures are our mother. It is a very auspicious and memorable occasion in our lives. We are all born in the darkness of ignorance and on the day of initiation we are taking a second birth in the mode of goodness.

The philosophical points from our scriptures are regarded as universal because it is applicable and good for everyone. That is why Srila Prabhupada unknowingly attracted all kinds of people whoever they may be. Religions are man made divisions but essentially every living entity is the same, being part and parcel of Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead. This important and essential fact of our relationship with the Supreme Lord is recognized on the day of initiation. Our beloved Guru Maharaja makes the day all the more important by his incomparable initiation lectures which are cherished by one and all. He opens our heart to very sublime meanings of initiation and thus completely uplifts us and changes the whole vision for good. I was listening to the initiation lecture given by Maharaja in December 2008 in Rajkot and I would like to share with you all the wonderful meanings of initiation expounded by our beloved Guru Maharaj.

1. Initiation means we change our pursuit from the worst to the best:

“The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.”

So this is our situation. Here we are all struggling and nobody can deny this. We have to come out of this struggle. We are all essentially spirit souls. But we are running after our body, which is a silly pursuit. However you try to keep this body alright, it is never alright. It is all stool and urine. How long can you tolerate stool and urine? How much bad smell we have? If you enter the toilet which is not clean, we cannot smell. How can you tolerate this filth for the whole of life time? We do not have any happiness in the body. The best thing we can do is to recognize our own spiritual identity and get in touch with the supreme spiritual whole. That is the main thing. To get in touch with the Supreme living entity is so very essential and because it is very much essential for our survival, it has been made very easy by the internal potency of Krishna. The things which are connected to the internal potency of Krishna, they are the best. The things which are connected to the external potency of Krishna, they are the worst. And the worst we are following. The best we are ignoring. This should never happen. Initiation means you change your pursuit from the worst to the best. Again and again and again and again we have the experience that material pursuit is not our position. We are just carrying on but things can be palatable only if there is connection with the spirit. That is especially said in the second seed verse in Srimad Bhagavatam 2.9.34:

“O Brahma, whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to be in darkness.”

Illusory energy or maya means that which is not connected to Krishna and that is the definition of illusory energy.

2. Initiation means the revival process of our relationship with the Supreme:

We are all spirit souls and at the moment it is forgotten. This forgotten relationship has got to be revived. It is already there. The revival process is known as initiation. Please understand this and this is the only point. Otherwise we are alright. Now from today, we know that we are connected to the supreme whole. And that relationship has got to be re-established so that we completely forget the temporary existence of the body and give priority to the spiritual matters. This is initiation.

3. Initiation means to recognize our own death:

Death is like a snake. The snake bites and you are finished. This snake in the form of death has a ‘pracanda vega’. Very great speed. With very great speed it is chasing us. Day and night, every hour and every second. Death is bound to come for everyone without exception and that is why we say ‘as sure as death’. To recognize mrtyu or death is initiation. Those who recognize their own death, they go on the right path. They are magnanimous like Krishna. Because we see that this is all temporary. So we do not have any reservations in our behaviour. Those who are completely ignorant about these matters, they are fool number one. They try to have their own interest or whatever. We do not have any separate interest because we cannot take with us anything. To understand this is initiation. To some extent we have to have our own quota to maintain ourselves, but apart from that we don’t have any excess.

4. Initiation means renunciation of bad things and activities:

We do not smoke, we do not drink and we do not eat nonsensical things. This renunciation is our initiation. We have saved ourselves from all the bad language. This is the most important renunciation. In this compound, there is no bad language. That is why it is very peaceful. You go out and it is all disturbance. The bad vibrations are absent here. From today we should not even think bad. Bad thinking destroys us. Our face reveals our heart. The face is the mirror of the heart. Whatever is going on in the heart, it comes out on the face. Please, the innocent life is the best life in this world.

5. Initiation means we stop killing ourselves:

Worry free life is the best life. Otherwise we are killing ourselves. From today we should stop killing ourselves. Why to kill ourselves? I do not know. Just come to this side and nice cultivation is there. Temples are there or your own house is a temple. That is the best way to pass our life.

6. Initiation means learning what should be done at the time of death:

We should try to recognize that death is chasing us every hour and every moment. Abhidhaavato bhrsham. Nobody can avoid. Everybody has to agree. If this chasing is there, what happens? We are afraid – bheetam. Then what should we do? Once in a hospital, an old woman was dying and she asked the nurse ‘I am dying now. What should I do now?’ The nurse could not answer the old woman. Eventually the nurse got the reply from Prabhupada’s literature and she joined the temple and now she is a nice devotee. We do not know our position. Death is coming and what should we do? To answer these questions, you read Srila Prabhupada’s book ‘Beyond Birth and Death’. The answer is there as to what a dying man should do. Please learn these things and that is initiation. A small book of Srila Prabhupada will also correct you. Whenever you have time, please read. That is the easiest way.

7. Initiation means we fully depend upon Him:

We are always afraid (Bhitam ) and we require shelter. The firm shelter is Krishna.

From Him the Guru starts and the same message is imparted ‘as it is’. The message is the same. The bodies may change. This is known as parampara. Everybody is afraid without exception for the life and death and many times we have so many fears – I’ll lose my job, I may be driven out of my country, some chronic sickness may attack me, I will be sick, or my father will be sick or my wife will be sick or children will not be alright. So many worries. These worries from today have no place. The initiation is we fully depend upon Him. As it is we have to depend. Whether we depend or not, we are depending. So better consciously depend upon Him. This is the secret of the existence and if we depend upon Him, there is no struggle. Otherwise it is hard struggle for existence. Our existence depends upon Him. This is initiation. From today there is no worry. ‘brahma bhuta prasannaatma’ . What stops you from talking good? Who is stopping you from smiling? If you smile and others smile, both increase the red blood cells. If you are morose, others are morose. We do not want that. We want red cells. Anyway we are not doing anything. At the best we are like a dog under the bullock cart. The dog is thinking that it is pulling the cart and seems to be very busy. We are not doing anything. We should understand this.

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead is certainly not known to everyone, but He is very powerful and influential. Therefore, although the serpent of eternal time, which is fearful in force, endlessly chases everyone, ready to swallow him, if one who fears this serpent seeks shelter of the Lord, the Lord gives him protection, for even death runs away in fear of the Lord. I therefore surrender unto Him, the great and powerful supreme authority who is the actual shelter of everyone.”

We are all afraid of the situations of life and this is ‘bheetam’. Those who are afraid, theysurrender – prapannam. Srimad Bhagavatam is so nice that in just two words ‘bheetam’ and ‘prapannam’ the whole instruction is given. It is an ‘order’ to surrender. Krishna doesn’t say, ‘please you surrender’. It is an order. As soon as we surrender, there is ‘paripaati’- He protects. He is ready to protect but surrender has got to be there and that is initiation. So far we do not know how to surrender. We are very egoistic. We are all carrying only stool and urine. You may carry 5 kg and I my carry 25 kg. It doesn’t matter. The more you have, the more dirty you are. Why are we then proud? We are so proud of our material body, our material possessions, my wife, my children, my father, my father in law, my grand uncle so on and so forth. With the whole paraphernalia we cannot do anything. We do not know that because Krishna is kind, everything is going on alright. Otherwise, within a second, Krishna can finish us off. We see so many things happening in front of us. We have to keep our eyes open and these practical things will force us to surrender. He is ‘aranam’- He is worth taking shelter. He is the only ‘sharanyam’ to whom we can surrender. Nobody else. If somebody guides us to Him, he is our guru. Somehow or the other, you should surrender and guide everybody to surrender. Saint like Srila Prabhupada is with us. Forget about our own qualifications. Sarvopadhi vinirmuktam. We are thinking I am doctor, I am engineer, I am rich and so on. Money just inflates you. Just like a rubber doll stays afloat as long as it is inflated with air. I am talking and moving because of air. As soon as the air is gone, nothing is there. How long can we be egoistic about the inflated position? The day is bound to come when we will be lying flat. Daily He is chasing us. How long we live depends upon His wish. He has to just order the breath to stop. That’s it. He has to just order the mucus in our body to choke our throat. It is so easy for him. Mucus is water and water is His energy. Energetic can immediately withdraw the energy. The best way to save ourselves is to chant ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare’. There is no other way, no other way and no other way. There is no expense and only sincerity is required. We are protected from the fear because even death is afraid of Him and runs away. Thinking that we are going to die, we are so fearful. Why should we die before we die? We are moaning and crying because we are not chanting. Please take shelter of Harinaam and you will be completely safe.

“Living beings who are entangled in the complicated meshes of birth and death can be freed immediately by even unconsciously chanting the holy name of Krishna, which is feared by fear personified.”

The best example is that of Ajamila. At 80 years of age, he had a small son. The lust never decreases and lust will only decrease with the idea of death. Those who clearly see their last day on the death bed, they can never be lusty. Our eyes should be under our control. This is the only window through which the sins go in. Eyes are very bad nasty windows. That is why we train ourselves to always see Krishna. Don’t open the eyes fully. Keep it half open to see the path like Sukhadev Goswami because we are his followers.

We have taken shelter of Harinaam and we are not afraid at all. What is there to be afraid of? If we are alive, so many things will come. If you are dead nothing is there. Respect this life and everything will be arranged according to Krishna’s desires. Take firm shelter of Krishna by remembering the verse SB 8.2.33. The end is to take shelter of Him through His names. Name is non-different from Him. Anytime anywhere you can chant. Don’t put conditions on your devotional service that you have to go to Vrindavan to chant. Wherever you are, you chant and that place becomes Vrindavan. Don’t put conditions. Make devotional service easy for everybody. Wherever you are, just take japa mala and chant and you are protected by Krishna. Be sure about Him and be guided by Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad gita. Follow the vedic culture and respect the elders and take care of the elders and the children. We have the jewel in our hand. So do not run after the glass pieces and that is initiation.

H.H. Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaja ki jai! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

Let us take shelter of our exalted spiritual master by offering the following prayer at his lotus feet.

“I offer my humble obeisances at the lotus feet of my beloved Spiritual Master, who has a smiling lotus like face, is the ocean of all great and exalted qualities, whose words are very sweet, who is always peaceful, who is full of mercy for all the living entities, who is always fully absorbed in Krishna consciousness, is an embodiment of Supreme bliss, and whose heart is always immersed in the nectar of Srimad Bhagavatam.”

Chant,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna

Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama

Hare Hare

and be happy.

]]>http://www.spiritualquest.co.in/practice/scriptural-injunctions/meaning-initiation-2/feed/2How To Pray and What to Prayhttp://www.spiritualquest.co.in/practice/praying/pray-pray/
http://www.spiritualquest.co.in/practice/praying/pray-pray/#respondSat, 19 Mar 2011 05:47:38 +0000http://www.spiritualquest.co.in/?p=206In Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 5 Chapter 18, Sukadeva Goswami describes the different varshas of Jambudvipa and the incarnation of the Supreme Lord worshiped in each. In the land known as Hari-varsha, Prahlad Maharaja offers wonderful prayers to Lord Nrsimhadev and following the footsteps of Prahlada Maharaja, the inhabitants of Hari-varsha always worship Lord Nrsimhadeva to receive from Him the benediction of being engaged in His loving service. In verse 5.18.8, Prahlad Maharaja prays as follows

“I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Nrsimhadeva, the source of all power. O my Lord who possesses nails and teeth just like thunderbolts, kindly vanquish our demonlike desires for fruitive activity in this material world. Please appear in our hearts and drive away our ignorance so that by Your mercy we may become fearless in the struggle for existence in this material world.”

Many a times when we go in front of the Deity, we don’t even know how to pray or what to pray. We simply behave like a business man and treat the Lord like a order supplier. So it is important for us to learn from the pure devotees of the Lord as to how we should pray to Him and for what we should pray to Him. In this prayer we find Prahlad Maharaja requests Lord Narasimhadev to appear completely in our hearts and prays for three important things

In this birth somehow by the grace of Krishna we all know what pleases Krishna, what displeases Him, what is devotional service and what are fruitive activities. In spite of knowing these things, we continue to take pleasure in engaging ourselves in fruitive activities due to our enjoying propensities. All these activities can never give us permanent bliss and definitely lead to chain of actions and reactions. To control /overcome these demoniac desires on our own endeavour alone is very difficult. So it is important for us to pray to Lord Narasimhadev to kindly vanquish these desires from our heart. As Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport to the above verse – devotional service unto the lotus feet of Lord Vaasudeva is the only way to overcome these bad habits.

b) tamo-grasa grasa – Kindly drive away the Ignorance

Ignorant about the glories of the Supreme Lord, we fail to offer Him proper respect and take His instructions for granted. Instead of serving Him with love, we try to engage ourselves in His service as per our convenience and with selfish motives. Therefore Prahlad Maharaja prays to Lord Narasimhadev to wipe out this ignorance.

This material world is such a wretched place as we have danger in every step. Day by day we find things going from bad to worse. Even if we compare our own life to how it was at least 2 to 3 decades ago, we will realise how much worse it has become now. Soaring prices, increase in traffic-jams, outset of new diseases (swine-flu), recession, bankruptcy, increase in terrorist activities, forgery, earth-quakes, tsunamis, accidents, hi-jacks etc…we just can’t be sure of what will happen the next moment. The other day, we were listening to a lecture where-in Maharaja was saying how even crossing the road is like re-birth. There is no guarantee that people should follow the traffic rules. So to remain fearless in this material world is only possible if we take shelter of the person unto whom fear personified itself has surrendered. So Prahlad Maharaja prays to Lord Narasimhadev to bestow this quality.
In his super-excellent purport to the above verse Srila Prabhupada, very nicely brings out the essence of why we should offer this prayer to Lord Narasimhadev and with what mood we should offer the same. He says – Hiranya means “gold,” and kashipu means “a soft cushion or bed.” Materialistic persons always desire to make the body comfortable, and for this they require huge amounts of gold. Thus Hiranyakashipu was the perfect representative of materialistic life. He was therefore the cause of great disturbance to the topmost devotee, Prahlada Maharaja, until Lord Nrsimhadeva killed him.Any devotee aspiring to be free of material desires should offer his respectful prayers to Nrsimhadeva as Prahlada Maharaja did in this verse.
Though Guru Maharaja had kindly instructed us to recite this prayer daily, we never bothered to know the real purport of this verse. But, last month by the grace of Maharaja, Srila Prabhupada and Krishna, we came to know the real meaning of this prayer. We pray that at least from now onwards, we recite this prayer in the mood of devotion and surrender and not in a mechanical manner.

The following is notes from His Holiness Mahavishnu Gosvami Maharaja’s class on Srimad Bhagavatam 7.5.30, given in London, July 10, 2008. Srila Gurudeva is here speaking the direct truth for the benefit of all, about the crime it is to claim any kind of material ownership.

Prahlada Maharaja replied: “Because of their uncontrolled senses, persons too addicted to materialistic life make progress toward hellish conditions and repeatedly chew that which has already been chewed. Their inclinations toward Krsna are never aroused, either by the instructions of others, by their own efforts, or by a combination of both.”

Maharaja said, “They make a show, you know, that they are Krishna conscious. Mangala arati and cricket and soccer; we have puja in the same place as we play cricket and soccer. This is impersonalism, which leads to destruction. If the Deities are not respected and glorified, They will go away after some time. Sometimes he, the householder, wants to please the child, the wife, the son etc., and sometimes he’s fed up all together. Because of uncontrolled senses, they will force us to do these things. There is only one way to control the senses:

“Maharaja Ambarisa always engaged his mind in meditating upon the lotus feet of Krishna, his words in describing the glories of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the Lord’s temple, and his ears in hearing the words spoken by Krishna or about Krishna.”(SB 9.4.18)

Please avoid this show. Show-bottle devotional service will only entangle us more and more. Better do whatever little you can do sincerely. Cricket and soccer, there is so many other places we can do that, but why in front of Krishna?

Grha-vrata (persons too addicted to the materialistic, bodily conception of life): it is a fact that whatever we own, owns us. The world is like this. They’re fed up because they’re not with Krishna. That is the only reason. Like in Israel, it’s called “muddy lakes”; the more you struggle to get out, the more you’ll sink down into it.

We have a very high estimation of ourselves. That’s why we don’t understand: whatever we own, owns us. You cannot really safeguard anything material. Because it belongs to Krishna! Until we don’t claim ownership over anything, we’re quite all right. The day we decide “this is mine”, police will come, because it’s a false claim! Instead, whatever we own – offer it to Krishna. There is no alternative to this.”
Maharaja said, “As long as the body is in order, one is not suffering; everything has a meaning to you. But as soon as you’re suffering, the body is not all right; nothing has meaning. Because there is no self-enquiry, one thinks like this. One’s whole life’s lineage is there in the mind, so there is no place for Krishna in the mind. Please look up this verse, Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.9:

Prahlada Maharaja continued: “One may possess wealth, an aristocratic family, beauty, austerity, education, sensory expertise, luster, influence, physical strength, diligence, intelligence and mystic yogic power, but I think that even by all these qualifications one cannot satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. However, one can satisfy the Lord simply by devotional service. Gajendra did this, and thus the Lord was satisfied with him.”

Srila Prabhupada says in his purport, “No kind of material qualification is the means for satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As stated in Bhagavad-gita, only by devotional service can the Lord be known (bhaktyaa maam abhijaanaati [Bg. 18.55]). Unless the Lord is pleased by the service of a devotee, the Lord does not reveal Himself (naaham prakaasah sarvasya yoga-maya-samaavrtah [Bg. 7.25]). This is the verdict of all sastras. Neither by speculation nor by material qualifications can one understand or approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”

The last point here is very nice. Material conditions can never satisfy us. Like Arjuna when he was defeated by the cowherds. After Krishna left, he became disempowered. Please look up this verse, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.15.21:

“I have the very same Gandiva bow, the same arrows, the same chariot drawn by the same horses, and I use them as the same Arjuna to whom all the kings offered their due respects. But in the absence of Lord Krishna, all of them, at a moment’s notice, have become null and void. It is exactly like offering clarified butter on ashes, accumulating money with a magic wand or sowing seeds on barren land.”

Krishna said, “Now you should become a pure devotee,” so for devotion he didn’t need all these things. There is nothing needed for devotional service – that is the point. Our Ambarish Prabhu once said that one is cursed to become rich, just so that one’s mind always has to think of banks etc. The more material qualification we have, the more it is an impediment for devotional service. So we better become fool in front of Krishna. That’s why Jada Bharata acted like he did. So please try to understand these things. These things are not needed. Devotional service means devotional service only – no conditions. Only devotional service is required – that’s all.

We never know when our passing away will take place; we don’t consider it. This passing away should be daily in the background of our mind at least, so that we will correct our behaviour. Materially, we love people. But spiritually, if you loved everybody, you would be equipoised and peaceful, Shanta, always. We also have to be careful in our dealings with people: particularly with women, secluded meetings should be avoided, including phone calls, which is no different.

Prahlada Maharaja emphasises that nothing but devotional service is required! The illiterate man in South India crying with the Bhagavad gita open was recognized by Caitanya Mahaprabhu as a pure devotee. But there are preachers who are very knowledgeable but their eyes are always roaming. Their eyes go here and there like a pigeon, so how can they be peaceful?”

When our spiritual master, H.H.Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaja was in Abu Dhabi in December 2007 he made all of us recite the following points:

1. I will obey my parents.
2. I will never trouble them in anyway.
3. I will always serve them to the best of my ability.
4. I am really grateful to them for all they are doing for me.
5. I will never be arrogant with them.
6. May Lord bless them with long long life.

It may seem that this is relevant for our children only but it is applicable to all of us whether 2 years, 16 years, 45 years, 70 years etc.

There is a story about an 80 year old man who was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45 year old highly educated son. Suddenly a crow perched on their window sill.

The father asked his son, “What is this?”

The son replied, “It is a crow.”

After a few minutes, the father asked his son the 2nd time, “What is this?”

The son said “Father, I just told you, It’s a crow.”

After a little while, the old father again asked his son the 3rd time, “What is this”
The son said with some irritation, “It’s a crow, a crow.”

A little after the father again asked his son for the 4th time, “What is this.”

This time the son shouted at his father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again, although I have told you so many times ‘IT IS A CROW’. Can’t you understand this?”

A little later the father went to his room and came back with an old tattered diary, which he had maintained since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page.

When the son read it, the following words were written in the diary :
“Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa, when a crow was sitting on the window. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied to him all 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question again and again all 23 times.”

So…

If parents attain old age, do not repulse them or look at them as a burden, but speak to them a gracious word, be obedient, humble and kind to them. Be considerate to your parents. BE A WORTHY SON.

“Sri Uddhava said: Thereafter Lord Krsna went to Mathura City with Sri Baladeva, and to please Their parents They dragged Kamsa, the leader of public enemies, down from his throne and killed him, pulling him along the ground with great strength.”

Srila Prabhupada says: The Lord proved to be a worthy son of His parents even at the age of sixteen years. Both brothers, Lord Krsna and Lord Baladeva, went to Mathura from Vrndavana and killed Their maternal uncle, who had given so much trouble to Their parents, Vasudeva and Devaki.

There are very many examples of a worthy son in Srimad Bhagavatam like Prahlada Maharaj, Dhruva Maharaj, Puru, etc.

Maharaja Yayati wanted his son Puru to exchange his youth with his oldage and invalidity. In Srimad Bhagavatam, 9.18.44, while accepting his father’s request,

1) A son who acts by anticipating what his father wants him to do is a first class son.
2) One who acts upon receiving his father’s order is a second class son.
3) A son who executes his father’s order irreverently is a third class son.

But a son who refuses his father’s order is like his father’s stool.

However, one must understand that for your son to be worth(y) (of value) to you, one must act and behave as worthy sons of their parents as well. Because children are always observing the activities of their parents and will imbibe the same qualities as they grow. Let us show to the children and to the world that we can become worthy sons of our parents and Lord Krishna who is our Supreme Father.

I therefore seek the mercy of my spiritual master, the Supreme Lord and Srila Prabhupad to ingrain in me the qualities for being a worthy son.

“People think juice is healthy, but it’s not,” says Dr. Robert H. Lustig, professor of pediatric endocrinology at UCSF and director of the Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health (WATCH) Clinic. “Drinking juice — even if it says “100% natural” — is no better than drinking soda.”

Lustig is on a mission to dispel common misunderstandings about juice. He says the perceptions that juice is good for you and that it’s natural are not only incorrect, they’re also contributing to today’s childhood obesity epidemic.

“Juice and soda essentially contain the same carbohydrates, so the body reacts to them the same way,” Lustig explains. “Juice contains fructose, glucose and sucrose, while soda contains high-fructose corn syrup, which is 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose.”

He adds that juice is actually worse than soda because juice has a higher energy density or more calories per ounce. While most sodas have 150 calories in a 12-ounce serving, juices have about 170 calories for the same amount.

“People incorrectly think juice is natural and healthy simply because it’s extracted from fruit. But there’s nothing natural about extracting juice from fruit,” says Lustig. “It’s the fruit in its entirety that’s good for you. The human body needs the fiber, which is what holds the fruit together. The fiber is the good part of the fruit and the juice is the bad part of the fruit. The juice is nature’s way of getting you to eat your fiber.”

What also makes juice so bad is that it’s high in fructose. On the scale of sugars, fructose is the sweetest. It’s followed by high-fructose corn syrup, sucrose or table sugar, glucose and lactose or milk sugar at the bottom of the list. In the United States, fructose ingestion has increased 30 percent in the last 10 years. Because fructose is so sweet, people tend to consume more of whatever it’s in.

More harm than good

Fructose is harmful to the body in two ways, explains Lustig. First, it doesn’t suppress ghrelin, which is the hunger hormone that’s produced in the stomach. When the stomach is empty, ghrelin levels are high, which produces the sensation of hunger. After eating, as the stomach processes the food, ghrelin levels drop (over a half-hour period), producing the feeling of satiety.

However, fructose has no effect on suppressing ghrelin and, therefore, no effect on suppressing hunger. In other words, children can consume a 180-calorie fructose beverage and not have those calories affect this hunger hormone. These unacknowledged calories promote the excess weight gain.

Second, fructose harms the liver. Even though fructose is a carbohydrate in terms of its molecular structure, it acts like a fat when it’s metabolized. Both fructose and fat go straight from the bloodstream into the liver, without being regulated the hormone insulin.

This is very different from glucose, which is regulated by insulin as it enters the liver. Insulin turns glucose into glycogen, which is the stored form of glucose and is not harmful. The body can store as much glycogen in the liver as it needs.

However, fructose is metabolized into a compound called acetyl-Co-A. Normally the body processes acetyl-Co-A and oxygen into carbon dioxide, water and energy in a process called the Krebs cycle.

However, the Krebs cycle is unable to process the high amounts of acetyl-Co-A made from fructose present in juices and sodas. The excess acetyl-Co-A can damage the body in several ways.

First, excess acetyl-Co-A can produce a compound that is toxic to beta cells in the pancreas. Some people think this may be what triggers type 2 diabetes. In addition, acetyl-Co-A also is converted to form free fatty acids, which enter the bloodstream and promote atherosclerosis (cholesterol deposits in the arteries). The free fatty acids, can also build up in the liver and cause liver disease similar to what is seen in long-term alcoholism.

“Acetyl-Co-A damages the liver the same way alcohol does,” says Lustig. Fructose causes a condition known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This condition, in which fat accumulates in the liver causing inflammation, results in cirrhosis.

“In my practice, I’ve had a 15-year-old boy who needed a liver transplant from drinking soda – his condition of NAFLD was that bad. I’ve also had a 6-year-old morbidly obese patient who drank a gallon of orange juice a day,” says Lustig.

“The mother thought juice was healthy because she got if from WIC,” he explains. WIC stands for Women, Infants and Children, a government entitlement program, which was set up to prevent failure to thrive. Although WIC has now put limitations on the amount of juice it gives families, it not only sends the incorrect message that juice is healthy, but it doesn’t provide fresh fruit.”

Lustig says this is one of many instances where public policy must change. “We need to educate people on the dangers of juice and soda just like we did with the tobacco industry.”

“We also need to get juice and sodas out of the schools. Here in California, sodas are out of the schools, but juice and sports drinks are in instead. We’re substituting one bad product for another. They’re equally dangerous,” explains Lustig.

Obviously, educating the public on the dangers of fructose-laden beverages needs to continue.

During his recent visit to Abudhabi, our beloved Guru Maharaja was emphasizing the importance of the last 18 verses of the second chapter of Srimad Bhagavad Gita. Maharaja was insisting that these verses should be recited before we go to bed in the night and again as soon as we get up, we should be reciting these verses. Srimad Bhagavad gita has emanated fro the transcendental throat of Krishna and so it should be placed in our throats. Maharaja said that we should try to put as many things as possible into practise.We should always keep the saffron colour in our heart. Krishna likes saffron colour. If we do not wear saffron before death, Krishna will wrap us in saffron colour. This happens because when the body is cremated the flames of the fire are saffron in colour and this way Krishna wraps us in saffron. Bhagavad gita gives us the right path which we should not miss and we should all become bookworms of Bhagavad gita.

Maharaja gave a very wonderful explanation of the verse Bhagavad gita 2.55, I shall try to post herewith a few of he points from his lecture.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: “O Paartha, when a man gives up all varieties of desire for sense gratification, which arise from mental concoction, and when his mind, thus purified, finds satisfaction in the self alone, then he is said to be in pure transcendental consciousness.”

In the above verse, the word ‘mano-gataan‘ is very important. It means mentally concocted things. And Krishna says prajahaati – they must be avoided. It is an order from Krishna. Krishna never requests. It is His command and we have to do it. When we are very busy with so many activities, we say in Hindi ‘mein kaam me hoom’. So we are unable to do any seva or devotional service. Seva is always without kaama. Really if we want to elevate ourselves, we have to become desire-less. We have to cultivate ourselves to become desire-less. That is the only one way to stop the incessant flow of desires. This can be achieved when we are completely satisfied with our material situations, whatever is granted by Krishna. You are now in middle age and soon you will end up with your waning years and dwindling will be there and then the final stroke is bound to come. This picture should always be before our eyes. Daily the time is working on everyone without exception. Everyone has a set time and within that time, we are allowed to do whatever we want to do. This freedom should be coupled with the instructions from Srimad Bhagavad gita. It is very easy to tell but very difficult to follow. That which is worth following is always difficult. The scratch is very easy to follow.

1. Desirelessness:

The first thing is that ‘kaamaan’ the desires must be completely under our control, if not completely vanquished. This is very specific with regard to mano-gataan or mentally concocted things. Our mind is very tricky. It will see so many suitable arrangements to achieve the concoctions. Mental conditions are rejected in the ordinary life also. ‘Mental’ means ‘rejection’. How much it is necessary for spiritual progress? Srila Prabhupada is very clear in the purport that desire cannot be stopped. It is the nature. It is bound to come. But the objective of the desire must be changed. To fulfil our material desires we are here and there is no need to hide the fact. After coming here we saw that with everything available, we have to depend upon a higher authority or Krishna to have the nice life. Mere hankering for the material pursuit will exhaust us. ‘Exhaust’ is a very nice word. Unless proper exhaustion is there, the car will not move. You have to exhaust. You have to get out of the unnecessary things or issues that entangle you in the material existence. That is needed. To get out of all this, one line is enough – prajahaati yadaa kaamaan sarvaan paartha manogataan. Desirelessness is also expressed as complete dependence on Krishna’s will. Whether we depend or not, we are dependent on Him. So better to voluntarily submit to Him. That is the way to be desire less. As it is, the flow of desires is there. But if you desire for Krishna that is auspicious desire.

2. Bhakti is never inactive:

Please carve in your mind that bhakti can never be inactive. We have taken bhakti as inaction. This is mistake. Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad gita 4.18:

“Perform your duty equipoised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.”

Here yoga means bhakti yoga. Karma can never be stopped. The formula is ‘sangam tyaktvaa’ – leave the fruits. Anyway we have to leave the fruits. If you do that you are inactive. You are active but you are inactive. In karma you have to see akarma. Inaction has no place.

3. Leave the mental platform:

Arjuna was in the mental level. That is why he was worried about kinsmen, relative etc., He did not want to kill. That is why Krishna gives the instruction to Arjuna to give up the mental platform. To finish our material duties we may have to come to the mental platform. But we know that we are in the mental level. We are ‘awake’ meaning we are ‘alert’. We know what we are doing. In the mental platform we are slaves of the mind. We do not want this slavish mentality.

We can see the example. I desire to have a sofa set. I have concocted that if I have a sofa set, I can sit, my wife can sit and my kids can sit and we can fight comfortably. The persons who see my sofa set, they think that I am sitting very comfortably and having a very nice time. They do not know the fight that is going on. This is mano gataan. Then loans are there; instalments are there. Come what may, do not borrow or lend. Don’t borrow at all. If you want to lend, give it away. Don’t ask them to pay back. These are very important things. Now how to get out of the manogataan of sofa set? As soon as I envisage my spiritual existence, sofa set becomes completely insignificant and negligible. Then the whole market of the sofa set becomes a dream for me.

Thus by satisfaction we should place ourselves in the pure existence of the soul with the purified mind and that is the way to leave the mental platform.

4. Be satisfied in your own spiritual existence:

The way to leave the mental platform is to be satisfied in your own spiritual existence with the help of the purified mind. Krishna says ‘aatmany eva aatmanaa tushtah’.’Tushtah’ is very important. You have to be satisfied. We are alive today means we have to thank Krishna. It is His mercy. He again and again gives us the days but it is all bound to end. Krishna uses the word ‘eva’ which means this satisfaction in our spiritual existence has to be certainly done. If we do this, then we have left manogataan – mental concoction and also kaamaan – sense gratification. And we come to the spiritual existence. Body is coming and going. Krishna says in Srimad Bhagavad gita 2.13:

“As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.”

This is not just the exercise of the mind. It is a fact. There is an ocean of difference between mere exercise and fact. Facts never change whether we know it or not, whether we believe it or not. If the facts do not change, then the instructions of Bhagavad Gita are a must. So how can we leave Bhagavad gita? Somehow or the other, the obnoxious mind must be forced to be attracted to the instructions of Bhagavad gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. Manogataan (mental concoctions) always leads to hellish life. Money is never enough. We are never satisfied with the money we have got. We have to draw a line somewhere. Being satisfied with whatever we have is one of the important conditions to make Krishna happy.

“By showing mercy to all living entities, being satisfied somehow or other and controlling the senses from sense enjoyment, one can very quickly satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Janaardana.”

We are always running after the bodily needs and this is not our way. To the minimum extent we should be there. Our goal of existence is ‘aatmany eva aatmana tushtah’ Purified mind will definitely help us to go to the spiritual existence. ‘sa vai manah krishnapadaaravinda yoh’ As soon as Krishna is there, purification is there. We are all Krishna drunkards in the PUB (Prabhupada Unlimited Bhagavatam). As soon as Krishna, Srimad Bhagavatam and Srila Prabhupada’s name is there, there are no inebrities. No place is bad. Only our objectives are bad.

The pure state of the soul is described as ‘sattvam vishuddham vasudeva-shabditam‘ – “When a man is situated in pure goodness, he worships Vaasudeva.” Krishna appears in the vishuddha sattva state. That is why He is called vaasudeva. This is extra purified auspiciousness (atimangala). It is this state which helps us to be at ease. ‘At ease’ means, everything goes on and we pay more attention to the pure existence of the soul. This process is not sectarian. It is eternal and applies to everyone. Just the four words ‘aatmany eva aatmanaa tushtah’ takes us out of the manogataan. If the soul is very pure, how much purer the Supersoul must be? Purified mind will never be satisfied unless you come to the extremely purified mind; Krishna. Eventually every verse draws us to the Supreme Absolute Truth – satyam param dhimahi. It is our experience that in the material world also, if a person is honest and true, we like him. Why is it that we like a man of good character? These things prove that Bhagavad gita is beyond any doubt and that is why it is supreme.

We all want to be situated in the pure state and for that how much our life must be pure? Leave all the scratch. Anything you do apart from this is hellish. The whole life program to take us to the spiritual existence is chalked out here and spiritual existence is our monopoly. We can never be material. Manogataan life is hellish. The hellish life is in front of us and there are different paths also. But everything falls short in front of bhakti. In bhakti only, there is experience of the pure existence of the soul. There is no ‘purified mind’ injection to achieve this. You have to try and experience yourself. Every soul has a pure existence. Every soul has a dirty mind. The mind has to be purified and the way of purification is the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha mantra. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu instructs this in Shiksaashtakam and see how it cooperates with the Bhagavad gita principle! Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is non-different from Bhagavad gita principle. Those who stick to Bhagavad gita are like Krishna.

A grain of putting Bhagavad gita into practice is more important than tons of knowledge of Bhagavad gita. Be steady with the last 18 verses of the second chapter of Bhagavad gita.

Chant,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna

Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama

Hare Hare

and be happy.

]]>http://www.spiritualquest.co.in/qualities/renunciation/envisaging-spiritual-existence/feed/0Time – Use it or Lose ithttp://www.spiritualquest.co.in/health/life-style/time-lose/
http://www.spiritualquest.co.in/health/life-style/time-lose/#respondSun, 27 Feb 2011 10:43:20 +0000http://www.spiritualquest.co.in/?p=212The following is a transcription of a part of an astounding lecture given by our spiritual master H H Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaja in South Africa.

“There is no need of running away from the responsibilities but there is a need of waking up. Don’t run away but wake up in your own situations. And know that all situations, however good or bad, are temporary by nature. Sooner or later the situations are going to change because the medium of the situation which is our body, is ever changing.

Dehino, this soul, dehino ’smin yathaa dehe, kaumaaram yauvanam jara it has accepted this body. In this body it was a child before. We were two years old, we were four years old, we were ten years old. All those bodies are gone. Now you may be youth or middle aged or old or whatever it is and soon the body will change dehaantaram anupraapya praaktanam tyajate vapuh (S.B. 10.1.39).

In Bhagavatam it is very nicely said that, dehaantaram anupraapya we will have to change the body and according to our activities we’ll have to accept another body. This process is going on continuously and we don’t know that the time is acting on every constituent of the material manifestation. And this is how Krishna controls everybody. This chair was manufactured, this table was manufactured. This microphone was manufactured. At the moment they are maintained so we are using them. And the time will come when they will fall apart and be useless to us. That is destruction. All these material things they are under the law of the eternal time. And eternal time is the eternal weapon in the hands of Krishna. Krishna controls everything through the time, and on that field we don’t have any control. We living entities can control anything and everything but not time. You may have amassed wealth, you may be in a very beautiful country, but your body has to go old.There is nothing you can do about it. Once the living entity who understands this hand of Krsna on everything in the material manifestation, then he or she understands the need of coming to Bhagavad gita and singing the glories of Bhagavad-gita, singing the glories of God, Krishna and following a very clean cut life. Honest, thoroughly honest. As soon as we understand these things, we come to the glorification of the Lord because time is in His hands, and time is not under our control. And herein we are helpless. If you waste your time, then time cannot come back; kshana eko ’pi na labhya svarna-kotibhih (Chanakya-shloka 34) You may be ready to spend millions of dollars or rands (South African currency), but you cannot get today morning. It’s gone, it’s gone. So when you utilize the time you should be very miser about it. You should utilize the time very productively. Otherwise time is gone, never can we regain. However hard we try we cannot regain the time. It is very nicely said in English, either you use it or lose i. If you use it, it is to your advantage. If you lose it, you’re dead, gone, the time is gone. This thing, one who understands then they get attached to the Supreme Lord because under His control the time is there. And if you can please Him then maybe the time will not have that acute effect on your body or your possessions or your family. This is the meaning of the liberation, that we are liberated from the effect of time. These devotees, see within six months they shine, you know? And we may see after two years that they become younger and not older. This is how to some extent they win over the time because the controller of the time is in their possession. If you possess Krishna every second of your existence then time is under your control.”